Our Story
The Beginning
In 1981, Bert Herzog III set up his insurance company, Executive Financial Planning, in Flint, Michigan, and shortly thereafter relocated to Brighton, MI.
Bert grew the business one relationship at a time. His commitment to exceptional service for every client led to consistent word-of-mouth growth and he gradually began adding professional advisors to build a team. These were advisors who had demonstrated consistency in their track record, industry experience, integrity, and a commitment to compassionate service for every client.
As clients came to depend on a growing suite of services offered to help manage their wealth-building goals, the company’s name was changed to Executive Wealth Management (EWM) in 2006. The new name better reflected the team’s dedication to a comprehensive approach that worked toward every client’s future.
The Leadership Team Expands
Through the years, several advisors who had joined Bert became partners in the expanding firm: Gregory Barber, Michael Chechel, Adam Kulesza, and Michael Lay.
Always working toward improvement, the EWM leadership team recognized a greater opportunity to provide a more comprehensive and competitive service offering to clients. In 2017, they reorganized the business structure, establishing EWM as a stronger firm with a solid foundation.
A Shared Investment Vision
In 2003, Bert had begun implementing a proprietary approach to portfolio management based on foundational research, combining a disciplined process with newly available technology.
In 2008, the EWM partners began work on a shared vision to expand this process. Together they made the investment in technology and talent and in January 2009, successfully launched EWM Investment Solutions, available exclusively through clients’ relationship with EWM.
With this launch, their vision became reality. Now they could consistently manage their clients’ portfolios to help meet two primary goals: first, to attempt take advantage of market opportunities, and second, to defend portfolios on the downside.
The EWM ongoing investment in talent included bringing on a team of experienced professionals. Each day, EWM’s proprietary, separately managed, money management platform, EWM Investment Solutions carefully monitors the wealth management strategies for EWM clients.
Creating a New Way to Serve
The leadership team also had the vision to build a supportive team of registered investment advisors who shared the same values of helping clients achieve their wealth-building goals with wise investing, financial planning, and compassionate service.
Wise Investing: EWM Investment Solutions uses a disciplined, risk-adjusted, and timely approach to investing for individual strategies, based on each client’s goals and risk tolerance. These are rooted in a personalized, tactical, and proactive approach to investing.
Establishing a professional team and equipping them with technological tools and a disciplined process, allowed advisors to build tailored strategies, defend client portfolios against the downside, and advance potential in an attempt to take advantage of market opportunities.
Personal Relationships: Every advisor who joins the EWM team focuses on developing and sustaining enduring relationships by providing clients with personal, compassionate service, and believes that true wealth is the value inherent in people.
This stewardship is considered an honor and is a guarded privilege. That is why EWM can say they are in the business of building, defending, and advancing relationships as they work toward every client’s wealth-building goals.
Continued Growth
Today, EWM continues to expand, as of July, 2019, offering services in over 28 states. EWM’s commitment to compassionate service and the proprietary, innovative, and disciplined investment management strategy continues to attract new advisors. These advisors are attracted to EWM’s commitment to provide their clients with an elevated level of service.
A Foundation for Longevity
While the financial world has many moving parts and nothing is constant, the team at EWM works to provide their clients the confidence that their investments are being stewarded with professional discipline and guarded principles.
All EWM advisors believe in a fee-based approach which helps align their interests with those of their clients. As fiduciaries, EWM's mission is to help build, defend and advance the investments of our clients while providing a legacy of economic well-being.
The entire EWM team is privileged to serve their clients and community. The team’s commitment to compassionate growth can be found here.
The Executive Wealth Management firm is intentionally built on the lasting values that will remain through every calm and storm: trust, compassion, and community. Maintaining and building upon these values as the company grows is a primary focus: growth through compassionate service is a foundation that endures.